Ricciardo To Be More “Open-minded” On Set-Ups

Daniel Ricciardo believes he need to stop trying to perfect his set-ups and learn to drive through problems to have a chance in 2018.

The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver finished fifth in the standings last season but was regularly outqualified by teammate Max Verstappen.

2017 saw lots of aerodynamic rule changes and the Australian admitted that this made the cars harder to “understand, trickier to find the right formula” and believes he may have hurt his form himself by “trying too hard to solve problems with set-up changes.”

Ricciardo told Motorsport.com “In the past, I feel some of my strength has been my ability to feel the car, I’m quite sensitive to things and therefore in the past it’s been good for tyre management.

“Sometimes it’s to my detriment, where I would probably be better off driving through something as opposed to being ‘oh, we need to change that or change that.’

“I feel I have learned a bit as well. Sometimes just throw the book out the window and drive it.”

Tyres were wider in 2017 and Ricciardo believes some of his problems may have stemmed from that, “These tyres behave so differently to all different types of surfaces” stated the Aussie, “On a smooth surface they slide a lot and I think a lot of the time, I have got to acknowledge the car is not going to be perfect.”

Ricciardo feels to have a better chance in 2018, he must be “a bit more open-minded.”